AboutMel Priddle Expertise Movies have always been my great love and John Wayne films in particular gave me more pleasure than most. I have studied his body of work for years and would be more than happy to answer any questions relating anything he appeared in, directed or produced.
Expert: Mel Priddle Date: 4/20/2007 Subject: John Wayne
Question QUESTION: Mel,
In your opinion, what are John Wayne's 10 best movies? Thanks!
ANSWER: Hello Callie,
My ten favourites, in no particular order, would be......
Red River
The Searchers
Stagecoach
True Grit
Angel And The Badman
The Quiet Man
North To Alaska
The Alamo
The Horse Soldiers
Without Reservations
Rio Grande
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
3 Godfathers
Rio Bravo
Oops, that's fourteen. So, I'll have to drop "North To Alaska", "3 Godfathers", "Without Reservations" and "Angel And The Badman". That was difficult.
Glad to be of help. Cheers........Mel.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I really appreciate your quick response. I am curious - it seems that you have mostly named westerns. What about all of his war movies? Again, thank you for your time and expertise.
Callie
Answer Hello again, Callie,
Well, it was my opinion you wanted, and that's what I gave you. For some reason, Wayne walked and talked the part of a cowboy. It suited him far more than any other type of character that he played.
If you'd have asked for my Top 20, then there may have been one or two of his war films in the list. Possibly "They Were Expendable" and "Sands Of Iwo Jima" would have been in there.
"Cast A Giant Shadow", "In Harm's Way" and "The Longest Day" were all excellent films, but I excluded them from my list because they were ensemble pieces. Not what I could class as solely "John Wayne movies".
Your original question was not easy for me to answer. I enjoy all of John Wayne's films, even the lesser ones To pick just a few from 180 or so, and because tastes are very individual things and they can change with a person's moods, it was difficult to name just ten.
Sometimes I look at a film like "Hondo" and enjoy it. At other times I can watch it and "really" enjoy it, to the extent that I would consider it for a Top Ten position.
My choices are also probably influenced by the fact that Westerns and Musicals (not a consideration in Wayne's case) are my favourite types of films.
